The present invention relates to display systems for passenger vehicles, and more particularly, to a display system with a retention system for selectively retaining a display monitor in a desired orientation.
Display monitors have become a popular accessory for passenger vehicles, and may be used in a wide variety of applications. For example, a display monitor may be used in a vehicle as a computer monitor, a navigation display, a television, a closed-caption display for exterior cameras, etc. While some display monitors are installed during manufacture of the vehicle, others are installed after the vehicles are completed. In either case, the display monitor should be mounted securely within the passenger compartment of the vehicle interior.
Vehicle display monitors may be mounted at any of various locations within the passenger compartment of a vehicle, depending on the vehicle configuration and the intended use of the monitor. Monitors may be mounted on, or partially or totally embedded in, the ceiling portion of the vehicle. Ceiling-mounted monitors are popular because they may be stowed in an out-of-the-way position on the ceiling of the vehicle, and can present the monitor""s viewing surface for easy viewing by passengers of the vehicle. Typically, ceiling-mounted monitors are retained in their stowed positions either by friction or by a spring-biased latch. With either of these systems, forces imparted to the vehicle and the display monitor during use, such as when the vehicle travels over bumps or grates or other irregular surfaces in the road, may cause the monitor to deploy unintentionally. Spring-biased latches may utilize stronger springs to counteract this problem, however, increasing the spring force retaining the latch in an unactuated position also increases the force that a user must apply to release the display monitor from engagement with the latch. Increasing the force required increases the number of users that cannot effectively use the monitor because they lack the strength to activate the latch to deploy the monitor from its stowed position.
The invention provides a ceiling-mountable display monitor system with an improved monitor retention system. The display monitor system includes a display monitor that is mounted on the ceiling portion of a vehicle by a mounting assembly. The monitor system includes a display surface and a retention system adapted to selectively engage a catch on the display monitor to retain the monitor in a stowed configuration proximate the ceiling portion of the vehicle. Upon actuation by the user, the retention system releases the monitor for pivotal or other movement away from the ceiling portion of the vehicle to a viewing configuration. In the viewing configuration, the viewing surface is oriented for comfortable viewing by passengers of the vehicle. The retention system includes a retainer pivotally mounted about a pivot axis and an actuator with a user-manipulable element adapted to selectively pivot the retainer relative to its pivot axis. The retainer includes a contact surface adapted to engage the catch of the display monitor. The contact surface is oriented to prevent unintentional release of the display monitor.